A broader view of church’s “foundational issues”

I read with interest your piece on Catholic voters. I find it interesting that the U.S. Catholic bishops listed only sanctity of life and marriage as “foundational issues” upon which Catholics should base their vote. What about caring for the poor? I believe that was pretty high on Jesus’ list. How about increasing defense spending while cutting social programs?

As pointed out in your article, very few, if any, candidates consistently support all Catholic “core issues.” Religion should provide a moral framework which informs our political decisions, not dictate them.

Given your graphic that showed the Republican-Democrat split among Catholics is identical to that of the overall electorate, I am happy to see that my fellow American Catholics tend to agree.

Al Steinmann, Golden

This letter was published in the Oct. 25 edition.

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You mean Jesus wasn’t walking around discussing gays and abortion?!?!?

Anonymous

In Jesus times, there weren’t many “best-sellers” to read….nor any Broncos to watch.

Almost every Jew was very familar with the Torah……from what we call Genesis 1:1.

As a rssult, issues like “homosexuality” and “abortion” were “known wrongs” that didn’t needed to be repeated…..again and again and again…..like….today.

That’s why, in cases like “murder” and “adultery,” Jesus didn’t have to explain that those things were wrong. He simply started with the understanding that they KNEW…..and then added “the thought process of wanting to commit those things” as being a “sin” also……since any sin “begins with the heart” before it escalates to the hand.

Terry Burnsed

It’s always fun when those defending (their own version of) “eternal verities” do so by using a historicist argument.

Anonymous

While most Jews were familiar with the Torah there were divisions with in Judaism who disagreed about how to enforce the Law and whether prophetic books, which spoke more strongly about matters of poverty etc, were even valid. You had Saducees, who only counted the Torah as valid. You had Pharisees who looked at the Torah through the light of the Prophets. You had Esscenes who viewed the Torah and the Prophets in an eschatological manner as a call to abandon society for the desert. Matters such as abortion, which isn’t specifically mentioned in the Bible, would have been viewed through the various groups Scriptures AND how they interpreted them. These issues weren’t as cut and dried as your Sola Scriptora/legalistic approach makes them out to be. Also where Christianity is concerned the nuances of the Law pale in the face of God’s grace. That doesn’t mean that abortion or homosexuality are right, rather it means we should be careful how we conduct ourselves in the secular world. We shouldn’t be roaming about casting judgements and enforcing our views on a public that may not agree with them. I say that because we are coworkers with God and His grace, and judgements, not being our privy, do not convey that grace nor God’s love. Rather it has the opposite effect of driving people away from Love and Mercy.
Focus on your own sins. If you see a beggar treat him as you would Christ. If someone sins pray for them, do not judge them. Love God and your neighbor and believe it or not all things will work themselves out as they are meant to be.

Anonymous

I like your last paragraph.

“We shouldn’t be roaming about casting judgements and enforcing our views on a public that may not agree with them.” — You just ruined Robtf’s whole day, LOL

Anonymous

Excellent analysis of 1st Century Judaism in Judea.

The Pharisees get somewhat of a bum rap, IMHO, in the Gospels. The authors turn them into a caricature.

But, Jesus of Nazareth himself was in the style of a Pharisee. Pharisees are the forerunners of modern Judaism. They came up with the crazy idea that God existed everywhere, and thus could be worshiped anywhere, not just at the Temple — which naturally displeased the Sadducees. They also believed that, while Jews were God’s people, nevertheless, there were non-Jews, Gentiles, who also were good in God’s sight. The Book of Jonah reflects this. Other books from the Prophets and the Writings reflect this also. They tried to apply the Law and the Prophets to everyday life. Yes, some were legalistic. But others were more concerned with how best to serve God. They survived the Roman persecution after the Judean rebellions of 67 and 130 CE. The Sadducees’ reason for existence perished with the destruction of the Temple. The Essenes disappeared.

Beginning some time around Alexander the Great, there were more Jews living outside Judea than within it. This started with the Babylonian exile. When Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Judea, many Jews stayed in the Empire. The Babylonians were reasonably tolerant of other religions, the city of Babylon had business and culture, and many Jews liked it there. Synagogues developed as a result of Jews’ desire to continue to worship God, while being away from the Temple.

Some pagans (there’s that word again) decided they liked the idea of worshiping just one all-powerful God, they liked the Jews’ sense of moral behavior, taking care of the poor, etc. They didn’t like the Jews’ dietary restrictions and circumcision. So, they were allowed to listen to the service, but were apart from it. It was from this group that St. Paul and other early Christians gathered their first fruits.

After the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, and their forced exile from Judea, the Pharisees then took on two huge tasks: Codifying and standardizing the Jewish bible, so that Jews throughout the Roman Empire would be reading from the same sacred texts. And codifying and standardizing hundreds of years of tradition, oral history, rabbinical rulings, etc. into a comprehensive text. The first effort gave us the Torah (“the Law”) and the Tanakh (“The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings”). The second effort gave us the Talmud.

It is important to note that Roman emporers were generally tolerant of Judaism, although, like early Christians, there were occasional persecutions of Jews. The Roman suppression of the Jews in Jdea stopped at Judea’s borders. It’s estimated Rome’s population was 10% Jewish.

Anonymous

Well said. I’d only disagree ever so slightly on a couple of points. Many people IMO view historical Judaism through a rather modern theopolitical lens. Their understanding of Judaism is trapped in a warped eschatology that ignores the deeper history of Judaism and by extent Christianity. One grew out of the other and then both grew along side each other some times in disharmony and often under persecution. In the eyes of too many Judaism was a religion practiced by a handful of Hebrew speaking people in a dusty nation in the Mideast. The problem is, as you correctly note, is it wasn’t. Judaism was prevalent through out the Roman Empire and those that adhered to it usually didn’t speak Hebrew. Even in Judea Hebrew was very often not in use in what, in the fullness of time, would fully develop in to the synagogue (which is a Greek term, not a Hebrew one). Aramaic, Syriac and Greek were far more common outside of the Temple then Hebrew. Had it not been for the destruction of the Temple Hebrew may well have become a strictly liturgical language. It’s funny that this view exists seeing as those that the Apostles preached to on Pentecost (another Greek term) were Jews despite the fact they didn’t speak Hebrew. I was pleased to see your reference to the Talmud as Sola Scriptora seem to over look it in their biblioidoltry. They seem to hold that Judaism was “by the book” despite the fact that the Talmud reflects traditions that predate the canonization of the Tanakh. Of course far too often these people hold that the Christian Bible came floating down from heaven complete when the fact is it is the product of Traditions, both oral and written.

Anonymous

A…..”good” Church……does not leave it to a Pagan Government to “feed the hungry.”

Jesus never, ever went to Rome and demanded that Rome do what the Jews should do themselves.

There ARE certain things that are WRONG and that Christians SHOULD speak up about IF – IF – the Pagan Government “legalizes” such things.

But “feeding the poor”…..is NOT something that Christians can NOT do…..have NOT done…..does NOT do…..so voting that the Pagan Government collect taxes to do what the Church should be doing…..is something that Jesus never suggested in His Roman Times…..is it?

Anonymous

Pagan government?
Pagan government!!!
The constitution forbids a pagan government.
You do understand we have a secular government, don’t you?
Or do you think all secular organizations are pagan?

But the government reflects many pagan ideals.http://nobeliefs.com/pagan.htm
This is a thought provoking essay that highlights how Deism has roots in pagan tradition.

Look at the statue on the Capital Dome.

Anonymous

That American Heritage Dictionary definition of paganism at the beginning of the article is laughably cartoonish — not to mention chauvinistic. It is defining paganism through the lens of the dominant culture. Under definition 1, Baha’i believers are pagan. Something the government of Iran believes, which is not very good company for the American Heritage Dictionary to be in.
A less biased, more neutral definition of paganism, IMHO, is any religion or spirituality found in the Western ancient world before monotheism predominated, and any modern religion or spirituality not based on monotheism.

Anonymous

Semantics aside, the imagery and tone of Jefferson’s words; laws of Nature and Nature’s God are far more pagan in feel compared to the Mayflower Compact’s Puritan flavor of devotion.

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